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Canada got the last hurrah at the Celebration of Light Saturday evening, closing the three-night event with a winning display. Canada was declared the winner of the event, with Brazil and China finishing second and third, respectively.

Photograph by: Chris Szagola
, AP

BUFFALO – It seems like the Vancouver Canucks have been playing catch-up all season.

Although they have four wins in their first seven games, they’ve had to come from behind late in games to win the last three.

They hope that can change tonight in Buffalo against the Sabres in the second stop on their seven-game road trip.

“We have talked about that,” Vancouver coach John Tortorella said after his team’s optional morning skate at the First Niagara Center. “We haven’t played with a lead much this year. We’ve been chasing it quite a bit and we can’t keep going with that trend. I think we have had good starts, we just haven’t scored that goal and so hopefully we turn that around.”

“You don’t want to be trailing in every game,” added goalie Roberto Luongo, who will start tonight in goal. “It’s going to catch up to you, obviously. Starts are key. We have been a pretty good team when we get the first goal in the past.”

For the second straight game, the Canucks face a team that has only one win on the season. The Sabres, now 1-6-1, finally broke into the victory column on Tuesday night, with a road shootout victory over the New York Islanders.

“It was nice for us to get the win,” said Buffalo defenceman and former Canuck Christian Ehrhoff. “Obviously it was a tough start for us. We are doing a lot of good things. We are a very young team and we try and get better every game and hopefully we can find some consistency now.”

A sub-plot heading into tonight’s game surrounds former first-round picks Zack Kassian and Cody Hodgson, who were swapped for one another in late February, 2012.

Hodgson centres Buffalo’s top line with Steve Ott and Thomas Vanek and leads the team with six points. He recently signed a six-year extension with the Sabres that carries an annual cap hit of $4.25 million.

“The team has a lot of faith in me and believes in me,” Hodgson. “I feel great going forward that I can be here the next six years. It’s a good relationship.”

Goals have been tough to come by for the Sabres, who have scored just 11 times in their eight games. Vanek, with three, is the only Buffalo player with more than one goal.

Hodgson did not skate this morning, but will play tonight.

“I just took a body maintenance day to make sure everything is good, and I’ll be ready for tonight, don’t worry,” he said.

Ehrhoff joked that he did a double-take when he saw the Canucks’ forward lines on the board in the Buffalo dressing room and noticed that Daniel and Henrik Sedin were not on the same line.

“Honestly, I was really surprised when I saw the board today and I was asking if that was really true,” Ehrhoff said. “They are a great players and even if they don’t play together they are tough to defend. It’s going to be a fun challenge.”

Asked if defending just one Sedin instead of two might be better for defencemen, Ehrhoff smiled and said: “You know, sometimes they make passes to each other and you ask yourself how they did it, so obviously when they are on separate lines that is not going to happen. But still they are great players. They are going to make their linemates better.”

Tortorella does not discuss his lineup on game days so we won’t know until game time whether he will start the Sedins together or apart. They practised on separate lines Wednesday, with Henrik between Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins and Daniel playing with Mike Santorelli and Jannik Hansen.

In Buffalo, tonight’s game seems to be taking second stage to all the rumours swirling about the Sabres. There have been media reports that general manager Darcy Regier’s job is in jeopardy and that Buffalo is talking trade with the Edmonton Oilers, who are said to be after goalie Ryan Miller and may be dangling Nail Yakupov.

Miller, who will start tonight for the Sabres, does not do interviews on game days.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Zack Kassian, Canucks: He won’t say so, but Kassian has to be motivated to show well against the Sabres, the team that gave up on him after selecting him 13th overall in the 2009 draft.

Ryan Miller, Sabres: Despite Buffalo’s tough start, Miller’s early numbers aren’t bad. He enters the game with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage.

INJURIES

Canucks: Winger Alex Burrows (foot) is out indefinitely. Defenceman Alex Edler is serving the final game of his three-game suspension.

Sabres: Buffalo is without winger Ville Leino (rib).

ICE CHIPS: These teams last met on March 3, 2012, just days after the Hodgson-Kassian trade. Buffalo won that game, played at Rogers Arena, 5-3. . .Kelly Sutherland and Don VanMassenhoven are tonight’s referees. Tim Nowak and Michel Cormier will work the lines. . .The Canucks will charter post-game to Pittsburgh. They meet the Penguins in a 10:30 a.m. PDT game on Saturday.